New Build Dilemma

[Vorith]

Building a new system shortly. Budget is $700, must include everything except the case. Here's what I have.

PC P&C 500W - $69.99 (free shipping)
Gigabyte UD3R - 119.99 (free shipping)
E8400 - 164.99 (free shipping + combo with UD3R -$15)
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 800 - $39.99 (free shipping)
MSI R4850 T2D12 - 149.99 (free shipping)
WD 320GB SE - 49.99 (free shipping)
Samsung 22x DVDRW - $23.99 (free shipping)
Vista 64 Home Premium - $99.99 (free shipping)
Total: $694(roughly)

This box will only be for gaming. So the E8400 seems like a good route with the 4850 for the short term( Year or so? ). But, I could probably drop the 4850 down to a Sapphire 4830 for $99.99. Possibly go for a Q9300 or Q9400 after the price drop hits newegg.

Suggestions?

 

[Rage_3k_Moiz]

You can go with the GA-EP45-DS3L to save a few bucks and spend them on an XFX HD 4850 instead, IMO. Everything else looks great.

Considered going AMD? You could buy an AM2+ mobo and have the option of upgrading to a Phenom II later, which are competitive with the Core 2 Quads. You would also be able to spend more on a better video card, which will affect gaming performance far more drastically than your choice of CPU.

 

[Vorith]

Well, according to the latest reviews MSI is now shipping the T2D512 with the quad pipe cooling solution on their OC'ed versions, instead of the displayed single slot cooler

 

[Rage_3k_Moiz]

You can always throw on a third-party cooler later. XFX offers far better warranty coverage and customer support than MSI, which is the reason I recommended them. You can also sell the XFX card later for a higher price than the MSI, due to the Double Lifetime warranty on it which is much more important than the cooler on the card.

 

[Vorith]

Alright. I'll just pay a little extra. Rather stick with the UD3R which is an excellent board with a nice passive cooler on the northbridge. DS3L looks alright, but it's an $80 board. Don't like gambling with motherboards, you usually regret it.